The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-03-25
WOMEN PLEAD.
ne W. c. +. G. Issues IN Address b Isquoe
Dealers.

1ne W. Cs He Cs Issues IN A0Qr0o8 % LfQ0O8
Dealers.
CHICAGO. March 1S-The National wom-
ans Temperance Union issued an address
yesterday to the brewers, distiilers, recti-
ders. wholesale dealers and saioou-keepers
in accordance with Q resolution adopted at
the annual convention in Minneapolis last
October It is in the form Of . plea, and
the people to whom it is directed are ad-
dressed as ''brothcrs." It says:
From the days OF the crusade in 1874. until
this day we have been In the habit Of plead
ing with you personally and by letter and adj
dress to give up the business of making and
selling Intoxicating liquors as drink And to
your credit be it said that in the vast major
fty of instances you have treated US not only
with politeness but with kindness. In our
great and successful campaigns for prohibition
for none OF them have failed, since even In
Ohio. although we have not had q constitu-
ticnal majority. we had over 3O.Op votes for
prohibition to less than 10000 for license, and
In Kansas. Maine. Iowa and Rhode Island. we
Rnined the amendment in all these carlpaignsp,
We appeal to you to say II we have ever man
Tested spirit Of harshEess or bravado. On
the contrary we have spoken considerably Of
you as men. reserving our denunciations for
the business in which you are engaged. for the
laws by which a legal status is accorded to
that business for the Legislatures which enact
such laws. and the voters who are the power
behind this throne of iniquity and shame.
The address declares that many OF the
men engaged in the liquor traffic are pos
sessed of the most generous attributes, but
among them are to be found some Of the
most unfortunate victims of drink. 1t con-
tinues:
In almost every State and Territory we have
sent out our appeal to the Legislature for pro-
lection from this curse. and though often pre-
viously disappointed our plea has not been
altogether in vain. For thirteen years we have
petitioled Congress and at last secured in the
Scientific Temperance Education bill the first
general temperance legislation known to its
annals. while pitiful CRY to the voters OF the
Nation has been responded to by local option
laws and constitutional amendments covering
nearly half the inhabited area of the republic
But We have never until now come with the uni
ted voices OF the white ribbon women to that
small Il action Of men who make and sell the
poisonous drink against which we are fighting
the drinks that nerve with dangerous strength
arms SO much stronger than our own and at the
same time so steal away the brain that ought
to guide those manly arms. that they are no
longer vomans shelter and protection, but her
worst enemy. We bring our plea. then. straight
to the source Of womals drest calamity and
sorrow, and lay it at your feet. By the testi-
E'ony Of courts and iuries the liquor trafic Is
the cause OF eighty per cent Of all crime and
ninety per cent. OF all the pauperism in this
country. We know you say: sit is great in
dustry and pays enormous revenue TO the State.
But We know also that for every dollar it puts
into the public treasury two have been paid out
In securing the trial OF criminals it creates and
in maintaining the pauperism Il produces.
The address discusses the question as to
whether prohibition prohibits, and declares
that experience proves that 1t does in all
practical senses and that this fact is real
ICED and acknowledged by the manufactur-
ers. II quotes from the resolutions passed
by liquor men ip favor OF license. says their
Of license condemns the system
and concludes:
We have here addressed the manufacturer
and wholesale dealer as well as the dispenser of
strong drink. because We think an undue share
OF denunciation has fallen on the saloon keeper |
who is but the catspaw to take out of the fire |
the chestnuts Of the rich man back Of him. |
Our observation teaches US that the stock and |
fixtures OF the saloon usually belong to the |
brewer. distiller or wholesale dealer who 'sets |
up in business" some man. ignorant and poor, |
who sells what the capitalist furnishes. Nor |
ally this rich man is under deeper coudemna- !
ton than his less enlightened representative |
who pours out the drink. collects the price |
thereof. and hands over the lions share of /
profit to the manufacturer and the Govern |
ueut-